Bomber urges Saudis to rise up against the royal family

SHAFAQNA – An Islamic State suicide bomber from Saudi Arabia has called on his countrymen to rise up against the ruling family and Westerners in the kingdom amid fears of a growing terrorist threat to the world’s largest oil exporter.In a video, made before he died and posted online, the bomber urged fellow to Saudis to join the jihadist group and cleanse the birthplace of Islam from within. His call to arms, just as the kingdom ponders military action against Isis in Iraq and Syria, underlines the growing threat from the group within the kingdom¹s own borders.Identified as Abu Hajer al-Jazrawi, the bomber was long since dead when his video was posted on an IS forum on Wednesday night. He died in August after carrying out an attack clsoe to the jihadist stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria.Calling on his countrymen to overthrow the al-Saud ruling family, he also urged attacks on the kingdom’s senior clerics, who this week issued a fatwa denouncing the group.In a carbon copy of the campaign waged in Saudi Arabia by al-Qaeda in the years after 9/11, Mr al-Jazrawi also called for attacks on Westerners in the kingdom.“It is time to say, ‘We will expel the disbelievers from the Arabian Peninsula’. The fire begins with a small spark. That spark will ignite an explosive fire directed at the al-Saud and to their rabbis and priests,” he said.Saudi Arabia has already foiled a string of Isis attacks within the kingdom this year, making hundreds of arrests. Two weeks ago, security forces smashed six terror cells around the country. In May, a plot to assassinate senior officials and clerics was halted.Despite the efforts of the authorities, pro-Isis graffiti and leaflets continue to appear in Saudi cities. Fears are growing of a repeat of the kingdom’s decade-long struggle to bring al-Qaeda to heel after 9/11 that left hundreds dead.Riyadh has committed to the American-led coalition against the jihadists and is considering launching airstrikes against the group as part of the joint air campaign. King Abdullah and the kingdom’s clerical leadership have been cautiously making the case for war. On Wednesday, the clerics issued a new fatwa, denouncing the jihadists’ “deviant ideology”.